The 7 Hottest Natural Food Trends 

A dietitian's favorite finds at the Natural Product Expo West. 

Expect to see more creative flavors of dips and spreads like hummus on store shelves.

By Toby AmidorMarch 20, 2015 | 9:14 a.m. EDT+ More

Each year, thousands of products are debuted for retailers, media and health buffs at the Natural Product Expo West in Anaheim, California. Attendees can sample products that just hit – or are about to hit – store shelves. When I walk the expo floor, I always look for new trends and products that are not only healthy, but are also delicious. These two qualities – tasty and healthy – go hand in hand.

Here are the top trends and food products you should be seeing soon at a market near you:

1. Coffee Craze

Everyone loves coffee, but you’ll be seeing it sold as a cold beverage more often. With the Dietary Guidelines Committee Report discussing the possible benefits of consuming moderate amounts of coffee regularly, it looks like this trend will be around for a while. Here are some of the cold coffee products displayed at the expo:

• Kohana Organic Cold Brew Coffee is bottled in 32-ounce containers. The company also sells ready-to-drink 8-ounce cans of coffee, which come in black or a variety of sweet flavors. 
• Califia Farms has several bottled iced coffees including their Cold Brew Coffee and several coffee flavors with almond milk. The flavored varieties contain around 10 to 16 grams of sugar per serving, so mind your portions.
• Sweet Leaf Coffee-Tea Blends combines your two favorites into one bottle. There are 50 calories per 8-ounce serving (or half the bottle), 12 grams of sugar and 26 milligrams of caffeine.

2. Nuts for Coconut

We’re still cuckoo for coconuts. Many food manufacturers are creating products around this delicious flavor component.

•  Nature’s Path Qi’a Superfoods Hot Oatmeal Creamy Coconut combines Qi'a (a superfood made from chia, buckwheat and hemp) with gluten-free rolled oats and dried coconuts to make a warmingbreakfast that will fill you up.

•  Go Raw Chocolate Coconut Crisps contain four simple ingredients. Although you can snack on them as is, they can be used as a delicious topper for yogurt, fruit salad or ice cream.

3. Condiments and Dips

More of these delicious options are lining grocery store shelves with creative flavors that will blow your taste buds away.

• Maille online mustard boutique makes 20 varieties of mustard. They have five mustards on tap including White Wine, Chablis and Whole Grain Chardonnay that are packaged in beautiful containers – making a perfect gift. Although a little pricey, they are some of the tastiest mustards around, plus they help add flavor to food with few calories.
• Better Beans released two new flavors I just couldn’t get enough of: Tuscan White Beans, made with rosemary and fennel, and Southwestern Pinto Beans, made with sauteed pepper and kale. I thoroughly enjoyed the Tuscan White Beans on top of toast with my morning scrambled eggs and using it as a dip for veggies. The beans are mashed, so it can be eaten as a side or a condiment. They are also gluten-free and non-GMO verified.
• Hope makes delicious spreads and hummus using high-pressure processing. Two new hummus flavors being released include SuperHemp and Red Pepper. All Hope products are USDA-certifiedorganic, non-GMO, gluten-free and kosher.

4. Flavorful Jerky

Jerky is making a big comeback, and these two companies have all the delicious flavors created in a better-for-you way.

•  Fusion Jerky has varieties made with turkey, pork, beef and chicken. These jerkies are made with minimal processing and contain no gluten or preservatives. Creative flavors include Basil Citrus Artisan Beef Jerky and Lemon Pepper Artisan Chicken Jerky.

•  KRAVE Jerky uses lean cuts of meat, giving you a delicious, high-protein snack for under 90 calories per serving. They do not contain nitrates or artificial flavors found in old school jerkies. Flavors include Black Cherry Barbecue Pork Jerky and Pineapple Orange Beef Jerky.

5. Whole-Grains Made Easy

The market has become saturated with whole-grain products, especially those that are easy to eat.

•  Gretchen’s Grains makes a variety of whole grains that have been fully cooked and frozen. All it takes is minutes to heat them up. Varieties include organic wheat berries, brown rice and quinoa.

•  Dave’s Killer Bread is one of my new favorite ways to take in my whole grains. The company just release two new products including Sprouted Whole Grain Bread and Organic White Bread Done Right (which is actually made with with whole grains). Dave’s slices its bread slightly thinner than traditional commercial breads, so each slice has about 30 calories less per slice and the taste is truly killer.

6. Simple Labels

The days of food coloring, preservatives and additives are fading. Here are two favorite products made with a very simple ingredient list.

•  Royal Harvest Maraschino Cherries contain no preservatives or additives, a major concern of those childhood maraschinos. Instead, they use fruit and vegetable concentrates to keep the pretty cherry color. Each cherry has about 10 calories and 2 grams of sugar. Now you can feel good about topping your ice cream sundae with a cherry!

•  Crazy Richard's is one of my favorite brands of peanut butter made from one ingredient: peanuts. Their almond butter is also made from one ingredient: dry roasted almonds. You can’t get simpler than that. Crazy Richard's also makes Pure PB, which contains fresh roasted peanuts that are pressed to remove the oil to give you a product with 90 percent less fat and 70 percent fewer calories than traditional peanut butter.

7. Gluten-Free Going Strong

The gluten-free trend is still at its peak. There are many new gluten-free products you’ll see hitting your grocery store shelves. Here are my top two picks:

•  Among Friends sells hand-crafted baking mixes. Not everyone can make tasty gluten-free baked goods, and Among Friends makes their lives easier by selling baking mixes. These are hands down the tastiest gluten-free chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted.

•  Seven Sundays Gluten-Free Muesli is one of the many gluten-free oat products on the market. Seven Sundays' ingredients list is short with names anyone can recognize. It’s a great way to get in your whole grains hot like oatmeal or cold over yogurt or fruit.